Court records show federal agents gave conflicting reasons before activist's phone was wiped at Atlanta airport

Samuel Tunick faces up to five years in prison after entering a code that erased his GrapheneOS phone; his lawyers call the child-pornography questioning a pretext

By LineZotpaper

Published20 October 2026

Read Time2 min

New court filings show federal agents gave conflicting reasons for stopping Samuel Tunick, a Stop Cop City activist, at Atlanta's airport in January 2025: an internal alert cited suspected terrorism, while agents questioning him invoked child pornography. Tunick, who provided a code that wiped his security-focused phone, now faces federal charges.

When Samuel Tunick arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in January 2025, a Department of Homeland Security Investigations official had already emailed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other agencies with instructions, according to court records filed by his lawyers. "TUNICK is under investigation by HSI/JTTF for suspected terrorist activities," the alert read. It asked officials to direct him to secondary inspection, retain his electronics and collect their passcodes.

But in the interrogation room, the stated reason was different. CBP officers asked Tunick whether they were going to find "kiddie porn" on his phone, which he denied. Tunick ultimately provided a code that, when entered, wiped his GrapheneOS phone, a version of Android designed for security and privacy.

Prosecutors subsequently charged Tunick with knowingly destroying the digital contents of a Google Pixel phone "for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government's lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control." His lawyer, Matthew Dodge, previously told 404 Media he had found only one other case using the same obscure law, a drug trafficking case. "This is extraordinarily rare," Dodge said.

In new filings arguing the evidence should be thrown out, Tunick's lawyers wrote that the accusations "were nothing more than pretext for a fishing expedition into the depths of Mr. Tunick's devices." They said an officer, named Findley, acknowledged there was "no reason whatsoever" to believe Tunick possessed child pornography.

Tunick was part of the Stop Cop City movement, which protested the construction of a large police training center in Atlanta and was investigated for arson, vandalism and doxing. He is not suspected of any crime beyond the alleged wiping of the phone, and faces a maximum of five years in federal prison.

"I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy," Tunick previously told 404 Media.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The case tests whether a traveler can be prosecuted for wiping a phone when the reason given during the stop differs from the justification recorded internally.
It appears to be one of the few prosecutions under the obscure statute, giving it potential weight as a precedent for how border agents handle passcodes and device searches.
It adds a new chapter to the broader federal investigation of the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta.

Background

GrapheneOS is an open-source, privacy-focused operating system built on the Android codebase, stripped of Google services to reduce data collection. Tunick was part of the Stop Cop City movement, which opposed construction of a large police training center in Atlanta; authorities investigated participants for arson, vandalism and doxing. The stop occurred just after the start of the second Trump administration, a period the reporting notes has seen a broadening of who may be considered a terrorism suspect.

Key Perspectives

Tunick and his lawyers: The child-pornography line was invented to justify a fishing expedition, the prosecution is meant to intimidate people who protect their data, and the evidence should be thrown out.

Federal prosecutors: The charge alleges Tunick deliberately deleted the phone's contents to prevent the government from taking lawful custody of the device, an obstruction-style offense carrying a maximum of five years in prison.

Critics and skeptics: Dodge's observation that the statute has almost no precedent, combined with the recorded disparity between the internal alert and the airport questioning, raises concern that a conviction could set a dangerous precedent for anyone who refuses to hand over a passcode or wipes a device at the border.

What to Watch

The court's ruling on the defense motion to throw out the evidence.
Whether the prosecution proceeds to trial and how the court interprets the rarely used statute.
Whether similar charges emerge against other Stop Cop City defendants or other device owners stopped at the border.

Sources

DHS Said They Searched Man Who Wiped GrapheneOS Phone for Child Abuse Material. They Lied · 404 Media

Checked

10 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 8 supported.

Show each claim

SupportedCourt records show federal agents gave conflicting reasons for stopping Tunick before his phone was wiped at Atlanta airport.404 Media: “Instead of saying he was being targeted for suspected terrorism ... they said they needed his phone to look for “kiddie porn.””
SupportedTunick faces up to five years in prison after entering a code that erased his GrapheneOS phone.404 Media: “Tunick ultimately provided Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials with a code that, when entered, wiped his security- and privacy-focused GrapheneOS phone. ... Tunick faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for allegedly wiping the phone.”
SupportedA DHS official’s alert said Tunick was under investigation for suspected terrorist activities.404 Media: ““TUNICK is under investigation by HSI/JTTF for suspected terrorist activities.””
Partly supportedProsecutors charged Tunick with knowingly destroying the phone’s digital contents.404 Media: “Tunick was charged because he allegedly “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone”
SupportedCBP officers asked whether they would find “kiddie porn” on Tunick’s phone, and he denied it.404 Media: “The CBP officials asked Tunick if they were going to find “kiddie porn” on his phone, which Tunick immediately denied.”
SupportedTunick’s lawyers described the accusations as a pretext for searching his devices.404 Media: ““As the evidentiary hearing made clear, these unfounded accusations were nothing more than pretext for a fishing expedition into the depths of Mr. Tunick’s devices,” the lawyers wrote.”
SupportedTunick’s lawyer Matthew Dodge said, “This is extraordinarily rare.”404 Media: ““This is extraordinarily rare,” Dodge said.”
Not in the sourcesGrapheneOS is a version of Android.
SupportedAn officer named Findley acknowledged there was “no reason whatsoever” to believe Tunick possessed child pornography.404 Media: “They added, “Officer Findley acknowledged that officers had no reason whatsoever to believe Mr. Tunick possessed child pornography,” referring to one of the officials.”
SupportedTunick said the charges were meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and privacy.404 Media: ““I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy,”